Police seize cocaine from Powell home

Police seized roughly $10,000 worth of cocaine from a home Wednesday night and arrested a Powell couple in connection with the seizure.

Officers found some 108 grams of cocaine in a residence in the Cactus Garden trailer court off Seventh Street, said Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt. Police say a small amount of the cocaine appeared to be packaged for sale in half-gram quantities.

Ernesto Gonzalez, 58, and his wife Rosa Maria Gonzalez, 49, were arrested at the trailer and each later charged with possessing cocaine with intent to deliver. The Powell residents made their initial court appearance in Cody on Friday on the felony charges and remained jailed as of Monday.

The couple’s son, 32-year-old Daniel Gonzalez, was cited for possessing less than three grams of cocaine, a misdemeanor, and was released Wednesday night, police said.

About a half-dozen officers were sent to the residence that night, Eckerdt said. They were prepared to “breach (the residence) and make entry” if necessary, the chief said, but the Gonzalezes opened the door for the officers.

“It was a knock and announce warrant,” Eckerdt said. “We knocked on the door, and they answered.”

Police received the search warrant from Park County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Waters earlier on Wednesday. The information police used to get the warrant is not included in the documents used to support the charges against the Gonzalezes. With court offices closed for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the contents and status of the affidavit used to secure the search warrant were unknown to the Tribune on Monday.

Eckerdt described Wednesday’s search as the culmination of information the agency received on the fringes of other cases.

In Ernesto and Rosa Gonzalez’s bedroom, police found a purse with $1,930 in cash, a credit card in Rosa’s name and 17 roughly half-gram bags of cocaine, says an affidavit of probable cause from Officer Michael Hall submitted in the criminal case. Another purse in the bedroom closet held unused plastic bags, a digital scale and a plastic zipper-style bag containing about 100 grams of cocaine, Hall wrote.

Two more small bags of cocaine were found on Rosa Gonzalez as she was being arrested, says Hall’s affidavit.

When police arrested Ernesto Gonzalez, he attempted to give his son $4,300 in $100 bills, the document says. That cash, plus the money found in the purse, was seized by police.

Eckerdt described 100 grams of cocaine as enough to more than fill an open palm. He said it was the largest amount of cocaine the department has seized during his eight years with the department.

The estimated $10,000 street value of the cocaine provided by police is based on the drug selling for $100 per gram.